What Will Home Look Like Post Covid-19?

A few years ago the world-renowned trend guru Li Edelkoord identified the cocooning trend. She said that as a collective, humans are turning inwards, using our home to rejuvenate and energize, to be better people.  It was identified as a macro trend, here to stay and not likely to change any time soon.

This was pre-Covid-19. Roll on 2020 and what was a theory becomes our reality.  Even more so than how any trend guru could have imagined. We all know that things will never be the same again. This international crisis forced us to, very quickly, do things differently.  It highlighted our flaws and also showed us how wonderfully adaptive we are.

One of the big changes will definitely be how we look at physical offices and how we work.  We have now seen that so many of us can work very effectively from home. In fact, with the right discipline, we are even more productive than in a formal office setting.  

How will this affect our homes?

The temporary offices we created will become permanent.  There will be an evolution of the home, where the homes of the future will be sold on the strength of the wifi or fibre in the area and functionality of its home offices.  

We will see more functional furniture, transforming small living spaces from day time office to nighttime living room. Furniture and appliances will not only have to be beautiful and functional but of high quality. We will buy with our heads from a very tight purse.

Homeowners will become far more critical of home services and suppliers as more hours are spent at home.  Suppliers will be judged severely on the quality of their work and the level of their service.   

How will this change who we are?

We will live more holistic lives when the lines between work and home blur.  This is something that will be easier for younger people and those of us who were born pre 80’s will have to do a bit more adapting.

We are going to see a new definition of being professional. People will be more forgiving when you are on a Zoom call and your toddlers run past the camera in the background. We will have to work harder on our relationships, building bonds with colleagues, friends and family.

But if there is one thing this crisis did point out, it is the value of family and social interaction and how home will always be at the centre of our lives.